How To's

Windows Vista and Windows 7 both have a great option called the Preview Pane. Instead of having Windows classic style folders with file names, icons, and maybe some details, you can have a pane on the right side of your Explorer window that will preview any file selected including graphics files and Microsoft Office files without having to open them.

When you try to open a file in Vista and the OS doesn’t recognize the file extension because it’s not associated with an installed program, a dialog box pops up that gives you the option to "Use the Web service to find the correct program" or "Select a program from a list of installed programs." Most of us want to do the latter, and so you have to go through that extra click to get to your list of programs.

If you need to reinstall Windows XP and only have the original disk you are in for a long process to get the operating system installed and up to date. There have been hundreds, if not thousands of security patches and updates released for Windows XP since its release in 2001. So, you could install XP with the original disk, then install the latest service pack and updates, but you may run into problems such as the fact that the original XP doesn’t recognize all of your large hard disk. The best way to reduce installation time and avoid potential problems is to "slipstream" the service pack files into the original version of XP. What you end up with is an installation media with all the service pack files already included.

Sometimes when you try to share a folder on an Windows XP computer, you may receive an error message that says "As a security measure, Windows has disabled remote access to this computer. However you can enable remote access and safely share files by running the Network Setup Wizard." This is caused by a local policy setting, read on for the step by step instructions for resolving this problem…

By default, QuickEdit mode in the command prompt window is disabled in Windows XP. QuickEdit mode is a useful function that lets you copy text between a command window and GUI-based programs, or paste text into the command window using the right click option.